Jean Monnet Chair

The Jean Monnet (JM) Chair will address Climate Change Policy and Sustainability Practices through interdisciplinary and multistakeholder activities that will run from 1 November 2025 - 31 October 2028. 

The JM Chair holder is Professor Laurie A. Buonanno, PhD, Full Professor of Public Administration in the Department of Business, Economics, and Public Administration at SUNY Buffalo State University and Director, Institute for European Union Studies at SUNY. 

JM Chair Action Title:  The European Green Deal and the United States (EUGDUS)

The EU continues to be the global leader in combatting climate change affording an opportunity for Americans to learn from the Green Deal and the EU’s climate policy integration approach for achieving carbon neutrality. In 2019, New York State (NYS) adopted the ambitious Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), which is funded by a $4.2 billion Environmental Bond Act and annual budgetary appropriations.  NYS Governor Kathy Hochul co-chairs the US Climate Alliance, a group of 24 state governors that has recently announced its commitment to the Paris Agreement goals, despite President Trump’s announced withdrawal. New York will be a key state in an intergovernmental struggle with the federal government over climate change policy during the funding period for this project.  The JM Chair oversees a partnership between the Institute for European Union Studies at SUNY and SUNY Buffalo State University, ensuring a state-wide impact for this project’s activities and outputs. The JM Chair’s Academic Team teaches European studies classes and infuses EU content in undergraduate and graduate courses offered in biology, economics, geography, public administration, and political science, participates in the IEUSS sponsored annual SUNY Model European Union, organizes a climate change conference, invites guest speakers to SUNY campuses or virtually, edits a book on transatlantic climate change policy, publishes academic papers, and presents findings at academic conferences. The project website, housed on the IEUSS website, will disseminate work products. The Department of Business, Economics, and Public Administration, which will house the JM Chair, is a community-engaged department, thereby facilitating dialogue between the academy and community stakeholders.